


Before Tomorrow Comes

by xDestinyIsCallingx



Series: What's left of us [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Mild Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 21:28:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20015059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xDestinyIsCallingx/pseuds/xDestinyIsCallingx
Summary: Levi becomes frustrated and decides that before inevitably returning to the thick of things, he should feel something that can't be touched by the horrors of the world they live in.





	Before Tomorrow Comes

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this as good as the first one! I'm so nervous lol Please enjoy😊

It would be a few days before Levi was fit enough to move. Those few days were excruciating for several reasons. Not only was it hard on Hange to see Levi suffer through a very slow and painful healing process but Levi’s frustrations only grew the longer it took to get on the road.

On the second day at the cabin they got a scare when a cart was heard passing outside. Hange peeked through the window to see a middle aged man driving a horse drawn cart with a few horses tied and trailing behind.

“It’s just a civilian. That might mean there’s a settlement nearby. I’m going to ask him.” Hange stood and headed for the door.

“Wait! Hange! It could be dangerous.”

“We need to know if there’s help nearby. You need proper care.”

She was out the door before Levi could say anything more.

“Hey! Excuse me!” She called.

The man looked up, alarmed.

“Y-yes?”

“Hello! I was wondering if maybe you could help me?”

“Oh? What seems to be the problem?”

“Well, you see, me and my friend were travelling through here when we got jumped by this group of ruffians. My friend got hurt and our horses were stolen and I was wondering if there was anywhere near here where we could get help.”

“My, how terrible! There’s a village just a few miles from here, my home. Why don’t you and your friend hop in the back and I’ll give you a ride.”

Hange’s eyes shined and she clasped her hands together in front of her. “R-really?”

“Of course. Do you need help with your friend?”

“U-uh, yes. He’s badly hurt. I’d appreciate the help.”

Hange hurried back inside as the man brought the cart closer.

“Levi! Levi! Guess what!”

Levi was already sitting up when she entered.

“Hey! You have to be careful! Don’t pull your injuries!”

Levi was gripping the edge of the bed. He rolled his eyes.

“And you shouldn’t have gone running out there like that. I’m fine, stop shouting, dumbass.”

Hange kneeled by his side, looking up into his sweat sheened face.

“Oh my goodness." The man stepped inside and took a good look at Levi. “He looks awful.”

Levi scowled at him.

“Come on, Levi. He’s offered to help us and we need to move you.”

Levi just scowled some more.

“Fine. Excuse me for being an asshole.”

“Levi…” Hange sighed. “I’m sorry, forgive him.”

The man brushed it off.

“I doubt I’d be in a much better mood if I were in the same condition and after having my stuff stolen by some criminals.”

Levi looked at Hange.

“Oh?”

Hange smiled innocently.

“He hit his head too. He doesn’t remember too much about the attack.”

The man tutted.

“Just terrible.”

Hange placed one of Levi’s arms as carefully as possible around her shoulder.

“Isn’t it? Uh, can you get the other side?”

“Yes, of course!”

They slowly and carefully walked Levi to the cart. Hange hopped up first and helped Levi up, making him lie down, his head supported in her lap.

“You okay?” She asked.

Levi was breathing harder but he seemed otherwise fine.

“Let’s just go.”

She nodded.

“Okay.” She turned to the man. “How far did you say it was?”

The man climbed up and retook the horses reins.

“About five miles. If you’d like I own a bar, nothing fancy, but there’s a couple of rooms uptop. You’re welcome to use em’ whilst your friend recovers.”

“Oh, we couldn’t possibly trespass on your hospitality like that.”

“Oi, what are you saying, shitty- umph!”

Hange covered Levi’s mouth with her hand.

“Don’t be ridiculous. Your friends hurt and besides we don’t get a lot of folks using em’ nowadays. I insist.”

“In that case, thank you.”

She took her hand away.

“Hey, what the f-”

Hange leaned in to whisper.

“Refusing first makes it seem like we don’t want to impose and people almost always insist when they’re offering to do a good deed. So just shut up. Of course I was going to say yes.”

Levi glared.

“Don’t put your hands on my mouth again.”

Hange rolled her eyes.

“Yes, yes.”

It was a few hours before they reached the modest village, the sun was already starting to lower.

The jostling of the cart on the bumpy terrain had unfortunately taken a toll on Levi and he found it difficult to hide the pain as he was helped off of the cart and taken upstairs. Hange said nothing. She knew not to, it wouldn’t be appreciated right now. Levi needed to handle this the way he wanted.

They lowered him on the double bed in the spare room.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?”

Hange took Levi’s arm from around her shoulders and sat beside him.

“Do you have a doctor? His wounds seem okay but I’m not knowledgeable in such practises. I’d feel better if a professional took a look at him.”

“We do. He’s just an old country doctor but I’ll call round to see if he’s able to get here tonight.”

Hange nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Alright, I’ll leave you two to settle in. If you need to, we have a bath just down the hall.”

Hange let her shoulders relax once he left. She sighed with relief and flopped down on the bed.

“Ah, thank goodness. We might actually be catching a break for once.”

Levi cut her an irritated look.

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. We’re wasting time here, we should have just taken that guys horses.”

“You can’t ride, Levi. You have to give yourself at least another day!”

Levi’s fists clenched.

“We haven’t got one more day!”

Hange sat up.

“You think I don’t know that? I’m fully aware of what’s at stake here! I’m the Commander and I’ve abandoned my soldiers! Time is the first thing on my mind!”

Her chest heaved and her words hung between them a few moments before she deflated.

“But, I have you to think about too. You’re not just another soldier, you’re not just humanities strongest to me. I have two voices battling with each other in my head right now. One won’t stop yelling at me to get back and help the others and the other…” She trailed off, closing her eyes on an exhale.

Levi kept watching her.

“What, Hange?”

She shook her head, looking away.

“The others too scared. I nearly lost you, Levi. The other voice, it’s selfish, it doesn’t want to go back.” She paused. “Does that make me a bad person?”

Levi looked off the other way.

“If it does, then I guess I’m a bad person too.”

Hange turned back to look at him, studying his profile.

“Levi-”

“Why don’t you go and wash. You’re not getting into the bed in the state you’re in.”

Hange looked down at her grimy clothes.

“Hm. I suppose you’re right. Are you going to be alright while I clean up?”

“Tsh. I’m not a kid. Go, you’re disgusting.”

“Okay. Fine. Don’t do anything strenuous while I’m gone.”

“Like what, idiot?”

He sighed once he was left alone. The peaceful silence of this place was oddly disquieting. After spending one day after the other fighting for their lives and living a life from one battle to the next it was almost uncomfortable to be still, being forced to rest.

He’d become numb to most of the suffering which came now as nearly a daily occurence. He wondered when he had truly felt anything else other than anger, revenge, guilt or grief. Everything that had ever mattered to him had been taken away, snatched cruelly by the fucked up evils in this world.

Their life wasn’t kind and it wasn’t about to start being so, you had to fight tooth and nail to gain anything and even when you did there was never time to bask in any sort of victory, it just meant there was something else to protect, something else you had to fight for to keep.

And what good was he in a fight now? He was an integral part of the Survey Corps, or what was left of it. What was left? Himself, Hange and a handful of kids. Smart, brave, determined kids but still just kids. They’d seen their fair share of misfortune and come out the other side of it, they were their own force of nature grouped together, he wondered if he and Hange had anything to do with that or if they had become the tight knit group they’d become on their own. He supposed it was all pretty irrelevant thinking at a time like this but with time came wandering thoughts.

Which brought him back to how much they’d all sacrificed. Some of it for little gain.

Levi wondered when the last time he’d truly done anything for himself, he wondered if he’d actually felt happiness, true happiness, ever in his life. Would he ever? Was it his lot in life to see everyone around him die before finally biting the dust himself? Was that all his fucking life was meant for?

Anger and resentment roiled within him. Why was everything so shit all the time? Didn’t he deserve some Goddamn peace? Didn’t any of them? From what they had learned they had suffered and suffered still all because of who they descended from. The war seemed never ending and where could it plausibly end? Until someone was dead that was for sure. How could peace conceivably be achieved? No. It was one side or the other and if he still had breath in his body, no matter how feeble, he’d fight against their losing odds.

He thought about Hange, about how she was in much the same mindset as him. She’d not only had to endure the same losses but had to shoulder everything Erwin had left behind. She was strong though, insecure in her abilities, yes, he could tell, but she was doing the best she could possibly do, especially considering the circumstances. They needed to rely on each other, now more than ever. They were what anchored the other, to keep the other accountable and focused on what was important.

Hange had really come to mean quite a lot to him, not something he would have foreseen when they had first met, not even after the first few years of knowing her, but somewhere along the way she became someone he worried after, he spent time with and surprisingly their sense of humour was very similar, batting dirty jokes back and forth without really thinking about it. And now more than his own determination to fight to his dying breath, he found that she added another reason why he couldn’t quite die yet. Leaving her alone wasn’t an option. He’d let so many people down, but not this time. This time would be different, it had to be, for her sake. All of his swirling thoughts were too much, he could feel tremors through his body as he tried to control his pent up emotions.

When Hange returned he was on his back and facing away towards the window. She presumed he was asleep and stepped quietly into the room. Her dirty clothes had been replaced by a white nightgown, leant to her by the man’s kind wife whilst they cleaned her uniform. Levi needed to be cleaned up again ideally too but rest was more important right now.

She tiptoed in and placed her glasses on the nightstand before carefully slipping under the covers, doing her best not to disturb Levi. She let herself appreciate an actual bed for a moment before letting her eyes slip closed.

A few minutes ticked by and she had felt the lure of sleep just begin to pull her under when she felt a touch on her hip.

Levi had turned to face her as she settled into the covers. He watched as she relaxed, taking in her hair splayed across the pillow. She was right there, so close. And here he was, for whatever reason, still here and couldn’t this be his only chance? He reached a hand across the space between them and laid it atop her hip, feeling the heat of her body.

It took Hange a moment to realise it was Levi’s hand, she didn’t even think much of it until it slipped to the bottom of her nightgown and under.

“Levi?”

She turned over, dislodging his hand, it paused on her thigh.

“What are you doing?”

He just looked at her for a beat before letting his hand wander higher still.

"Levi! What’s gotten into you?” Hange exclaimed gripping Levi’s wrist.

Levi seemed to come to himself, his hand froze and his fingers dug into Hange’s skin.

“Levi.” She said again.

For a split second a desperate brokenness flashed across Levi’s face before he snatched his hand away and he whipped his head to face the other way. Hange felt the finger dents on her thigh slowly fade. What was she supposed to make of that face? His touching her?

“Levi…” She ventured.

His chest heaved a few times, he brought his arm up to drape over his eyes.

“Go back to sleep, Hange.”

Oh, _sure. Like that’s going to happen._

She scooted closer to him and laid a tentative hand on his arm.

“Hey-”

“I said leave it.”

She sighed.

“What’s going on, Levi? What was that about?”

His fists clenched, so tightly they shook. His teeth ground together. Hange felt the tenseness in his arm. She should have known he would be suffering silently. She stroked down his arm.

“Does it hurt? The doctor should be here in the morning.”

He jerked away from her touch.

“It’s fine.”

“It’s okay if it’s hurting you. It’s okay to let your guard down.”

“Is it?” His face was cast in shadow so she couldn’t see his expression but his voice had a strange tone. “Are you sure? You might not like what you see when the wall comes down.”

“It’s me. After everything I’ve seen, I doubt there’s anything that’d shock me, and… if not now, then when? It’s just you and me, Levi.”

“Yes…” Levi said eventually. Then, with a swiftness that he shouldn’t have been capable of he pinned Hange beneath him, hands on either side of her head. Hange looked up at him surrpised. “It’s just me and you. And what if I said something that shocked you? What would you do?”

Hange searched his eyes.

“I’d accept it.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“No matter what it was?”

“No matter what it was.” She confirmed.

Levi’s arms shook as he lowered himself to bring his face closer to hers.

“Levi, you’ll pull-”

Her words died as Levi spoke in her ear.

“What if I said I wanted you?”

“Wh-what are you talking about?”

“Well… it’s like you said, if not now- when? Tell me, Hange…” He pulled back just enough to meet her eyes again. “Are you surprised?”

“Yes.” She whispered.

“Why?”

She scanned his face.

“Levi… what brought this on?”

“You want to know? I’ll tell you. I’m tired. Tired of sacrificing everything for the greater good. Forfeiting my life so that one day, a day I’ll probably never see, humanity can be free. So, I see it like this,” He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “If I’m going to give my life I should be able to have one good memory to take with me to the other side. What say you, Hange? Tomorrow’s not certain, but tonight is ours.”

Hange placed her hands on either side of his face.

“Those are some pretty words, but, Levi-”

“What? What’s stopping you? You don’t feel the same?”

“No… rather it’s… I’m worried it won’t feel the same to you.”

His nose brushed hers, his hair falling into his eyes.

“And how do you feel?”

Her eyes half closed as he drew closer.

“I don’t think I’m brave enough to find out.”

“Don’t worry. Tonight’s about taking something for ourselves.” Hange’s lips were a mere millimeter from his. “Let’s feel something good for once.”

Levi’s lips crashed into hers. Hange’s hands threaded through his hair as he forged ahead with his assault. She pulled back when she heard him hiss.

“Be careful, that cut across your mouth hasn’t healed properly yet.”

Levi huffed.

“Fuck careful.”

Hange rolled her eyes.

“Okay, if we’re going to do this?” She took him by surprise by flipping them over. She looked down at him from her new vantage point. “We’re doing this without breaking you further.” She carefully straddled him.

“Now wait a-”

Hange cut him off with another kiss.

“You’ll have to deal with it, Captain. That’s an order.”

Levi grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her close.

“Yes, sir.”

When their lips collided this time it was wanton and full of need to feel a closeness neither had experienced before for fear of letting someone in too close. It would seem tonight though they would be the others exceptions.

Levi's hands explored Hange's body, mapping out every inch. When the nightgown became caught under Hange's knees preventing him from lifting it he got frustrated.

"Can you get rid of this fucking thing?"

"That's romantic." Hange muttered as she pulled it off and flung it behind her.

Levi splayed his hands on her hips, looking up at her now exposed body.

"I'm not trying to be romantic."

"Obviously." Hange laid back down on top of him, bare chests pressed together. "Better?" She said, brow raised.

His hands travelled up her back.

"It's a start."

Hange kissed him, slower this time. She wouldn't have guessed it of him but he was a surprisingly good kisser, and with his sometimes rough demeanor he could be gentle. She supposed that was a side very few people saw and as they lay tangled up together, naked in more ways than one, his touch insistent and firm as he squeezed and pulled, striving for closer still, she realised this was a side only she'd ever see. This was them at their most vulnerable, souls bared to one another, both wrapped safely in the others arms and hidden from the dangers of tomorrow under the pitch black blanket of night.

When they reached their climaxes it was more powerful than either expected.

Hange let out a cry, the euphoric release even caused her to shed tears. 

Levi's already strained body shook and his grip on Hange became vice like as he held her close, burying his face in the juncture of her neck and shoulder and panting heavily.

Coming down from such a high was like kicking down an already decimated wall. A few sobs escaped Hange as she clung to Levi. His own emotions were dangerously close to spilling over, he held onto her like a lifeline until she calmed down.

Their breathing eventually regulated and Hange moved to lay by Levi's side, being careful to avoid his wounds.

She was surprised when Levi kept her close, keeping an arm around her. She looked up at his face but his gaze remained upwards, she understood the need to be close though but also his need to compose himself. She laid her head on his shoulder and a gentle hand on his chest. She closed her eyes, sleep tugging heavily on her body and mind, she fully expected to fall asleep with nothing said between her and Levi which is why she had to fight to keep awake when he did address her.

"Hey, shit for brains." His hand carressed up and down her arm.

"Mm?" She answered sleepily.

"Thank you."

Her eyes fluttered, trying to stay open.

"Hey." She reached and turned his face to her.

He looked at her finally. His own eyes looked tired but somehow just that little bit less burdened.

"Yeah?" He said.

She pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

"Go to sleep."

When his eyes obediently slipped closed she pressed herself back into his side and both fell into what was a more peaceful sleep than either had had in a long time.


End file.
